


Hidden Powers

by yoshizora



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 22:07:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18214280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoshizora/pseuds/yoshizora
Summary: Zeke tries to start a discussion about LV4 Specials, while the group is cleaning up Marrin guts.





	Hidden Powers

**Author's Note:**

> if morag and brighid held hands during soulfire then they'd have the power to destroy titans

“Dark Maelstrom… Dark Maelstrom…”

Usually, such mutterings would go ignored because Zeke mumbling weird things to himself isn’t anything out of the ordinary, but this time, he’s staring very intently at Dromarch and Nia as he does so. They’re all trying to butcher up the corpse of the Marrin they’d just defeated, because it’d stink up the shores of the village if left otherwise. Nia, currently elbow-deep in its guts, straightens up to glare.

“Are you actually gonna make yourself useful, or are you just gonna keep sitting there like a useless lump?”

“Dark Maelstrom!” Zeke declares, snapping his fingers as if he’d come to a revelation.

He didn’t, though. Zeke and Nia stare at each other for another eight seconds. Off to the side, Rex slips and falls face-first into a pile of fish mush, but only Tora and Pyra rush to help him up.

 _”Dark Maelstrom!_ ” Zeke repeats.

“Oh, geez, it’s finally happened. Shellhead’s gone completely mad.”

“Like hell I have!”

“Then what’re you babbling on for, huh?!”

“It’s… so cool. _Too_ cool. Dromarch must have been the one to come up with it, I bet.”

“What, Dark Maelstrom?”

“Yeah, Dark Maelstrom!”

“And…?”

“There’s no way you would’ve ever come up with a name as cool as _Dark Maelstrom.”_

“What’re you implying, huh?!”

Dromarch, though he can appreciate an indirect compliment, obviously can’t do so at the expense of his ward’s dignity and ego. Seeing as he has no thumbs and the taste of raw Marrin doesn’t particularly agree with him, he hadn’t been pulling his share of clearing away the chunks, but now he sees an opportunity to make himself useful. By stopping Nia from ripping out Zeke’s tongue, or something. With a patient little chuff, he stands between the two.

“Come, now. Is this all really worth causing a fuss over?”

Zeke dramatically points at Dromarch. “The way you leap in, with Nia riding on your back like a noble steed, and the two of you striking with such incredible power with the force of a crashing tidal wave— how come I’ve never thought of anything like it?!”

“Er, I suppose—“

“It’s nothing special, you idiot! It’s just the way me and Dromarch fight.”

Nia flings a hand in his direction. Thick, gooey Marrin blood splatters right across Zeke’s face.

“ _Plegh—_ ”

From behind an enormous mound of meat, Mòrag peers over with a flat glare. “Let’s get this task done before sunset, please.”

“You too, Flamebringer!!” Zeke’s accusing finger changes direction from Dromarch to Mòrag. “ _Azure Striker Form the Third: Soulfire?_ It’s a bit of a mouthful, but how stylish is it?! Way stylish!”

“Don’t try to flatter us,” Brighid says, not even bothering to conceal her disgust.

“I’m not! Actually, I’ve been thinking of sprucing up me and Pandy’s special attack. You know the one—  _Sonic Thunderslaaaash!!_ That’s why I’ve been watching you guys so closely, and taking notes.”

Nia scoffs. “What’re you gonna do, charge in with Pandoria riding on your shoulders?”

Zeke’s entire face lights up. “… Well…!”

With impeccable timing, Pandoria appears beside Nia, causing the latter to jump in surprise. “Nuh-uh! I don’t think so, Prince! Knowing you, you’d just drop me on the ground.”

“Oh, c’mon, just consider it!”

“Or I’ll bump my head on a tree branch.”

“That’d be your fault for not ducking, then!”

Nia vigorously tries to wipe off the Marrin blood and guts coating her forearms, only succeeds in smearing the mess, and sits down on a bit of clear ground with a weary sigh. Dromarch curls up beside her, and the two patiently watch Zeke and Pandoria argue. Rex had fallen onto the butchered Marrin again, in the meantime.

“Will you two shut your mouths and get back to work?” Brighid glares. Or, well, they think she’s glaring. Probably. She’s clearly not having a good time, anyway, dealing with this stinking pile of fish corpse.

Inexplicably, apparently, Mòrag had been closely listening to every word flung between Pandoria and Zeke. She tosses a large piece of Marrin onto a different pile. “It’s common knowledge that close physical proximity strengthens the power shared between Driver and Blade. So, theoretically, if Pandoria were indeed to ride on Zeke’s shoulders…”

“Don’t encourage hiiiiim!” Pandoria wails.

“Of course I’m not,” she says. “I only meant it theoretically.”

“Close physical proximity, huh?” Zeke rubs his chin in thought, forgetting that his hand is covered in slime. “That’s why Dark Maelstrom is so damn _cool…_ ”

“My Lady rides on my back all the time. It’s nothing unusual,” Dromarch points out, but apparently no one heard him.

“So what would happen if you two held hands during Soulfire?!” Zeke whips around to stare wide-eyed at Mòrag and Brighid. Brighid looks like she’s ready to set the entire remains of the Marrin ablaze. Or just throw a piece at Zeke’s head.

“We have tried it, once,” Mòrag admits.

“And then?!”

“Let’s just say we’re deliberately holding ourselves back, for everyone’s safety,” Brighid says, venomously saccharine. She bares her teeth, but whether it’s a smile or snarl is unclear. Without another word, she and Mòrag go over to help Rex up, who had somehow managed to slip and fall yet again.

“I think I felt a shiver of terror run up my spine!” Zeke laughs.

“Oh, please. They were just joking,” Pandoria tilts her head, and pauses with uncertainty. “… Right? They were joking, right? Please tell me they were joking.”

Nia resists the urge to slap her forehead, because unlike Zeke, she’s perfectly aware of the mess on her hands. But one can’t help but wonder… is it true? Could Brighid and Mòrag be containing some sort of unknown level of power, restricted by conditional physical proximity? What sort of hell could they unleash from the mere act of _holding hands_ during battle?

Oh, Architect, she needs to stop hanging out with Zeke. Nia makes a face of pure disgust and buries her face against Dromarch’s side with a loud groan.

“There, there,” Dromarch huffs.

 

* * *

 

The next day, in a battle against a Lexos that had wandered too close to the neighboring harbor, Zeke somehow manages to convince Pandoria to sit upon his shoulders during Sonic Thunderslash. And just like the rest of them predicted, Pandoria ends up falling off while Zeke trips and plummets into the Cloud Sea.


End file.
